Shanghai’s classical gardens: the back story

Beyond the towers, Shanghai keeps five classical gardens of the Jiangnan tradition, the oldest of them five centuries old. Where they are, what to look for and when to go, with the facts from the city government.

Step through a moon gate in old Shanghai and the city goes quiet. White walls and black tiles frame rockeries, pavilions and still water; a zigzag bridge slows your step, and every turn of the path opens a new view. These are the gardens of Jiangnan, the lands south of the lower Yangtze, and Shanghai keeps five of them.

The five gardens

The city counts five classical gardens: Yuyuan in the old town, Guyi and Qiuxia in Jiading, Zuibaichi in Songjiang and Qushui in Qingpu. Only one is in the centre; the others repay a half-day out, and together they make a quieter Shanghai than most visitors see.

Yuyuan

Yuyuan Garden, beside the City God Temple in the old town, is the one everyone knows: an extensive garden of pavilions, rock formations and ponds, admired for its craftsmanship and calm. It is at No 168 Fuyou Road. Come at opening time, before the crowds, and pair it with the old town’s lanes and teahouses.

Guyi and Qiuxia

Jiading, to the north-west, has two. Guyi Garden, in the old town of Nanxiang, goes back some 500 years to the Ming dynasty: 10 hectares of pavilions, bridges and stone-paved paths, with Chinese opera, storytelling and craft demonstrations on its calendar.

Qiuxia Garden, in the heart of old Jiading, is older still, with more than 500 years of history. Look for its 17 ancient trees, among them a 250-year-old boxwood, and its 13 varieties of bamboo.

White walls, black tiles, rockeries and still water: the Jiangnan garden is a landscape in miniature.

Songjiang and Qingpu

South-west of the city, Songjiang’s Zuibaichi Park is all flowers, small halls, a pavilion, a bridge and a pond; on a frosty morning it looks like an ancient painting. Nearby, Fangta Garden, laid out in 1978 on what was the centre of ancient Huating, gathers eight protected relics around the Song dynasty Square Pagoda, one of the best-preserved ancient pagodas in China, and hides the thatched He Lou Xuan teahouse in a bamboo grove.

Further west, in Qingpu, Qushui Garden has more than 200 years of history, and combines well with a canal town such as Zhujiajiao.

When to go

Spring brings blossom, but the gardens are at their finest as autumn turns to early winter, when the maples go crimson against the white walls. In Pudong, Shenyuan Garden, inside the Shanghai Expo Culture Park, puts on its own show of red maples around Danfeng Lake.

Our advice: see Yuyuan at opening time, then give a second day to the suburbs: Guyi Garden in Nanxiang with Qiuxia in old Jiading, or Songjiang’s Zuibaichi and Fangta together. Check each garden’s opening hours before you go.